Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Databank Group, Kojo Addae-Menah has advised Ghanaians to treat their financial investments religiously and with consistency as they do their weekly and monthly tithes.
According to him, it is high time Ghanaians understand that their investments can only yield high returns if they make consistent monthly payments.
Kojo Addae-Menah said, “Ghanaians are predominantly Christians and payment of tithes is a form of investment so as one invests 10 percent of his/her monthly income on tithes, then same can be done towards financial freedom. Contributing 10 percent consistently towards your investments is what one can do to build his/her finances”.
Speaking in an interview with the Rev Erskine on Y 107.9 FM’s Myd Morning Show, the investment banker motioned that financial independence is all about consistency not about “getting a cold turkey”.
He discouraged the popular notion of “I cared for my kids to develop teeth and they will also care for me till I lose my teeth”. To him, gone are the days when this principle applied and he advised the working class to start investing now towards their future, especially retirement if they do not want to be considered a burden to others.
“Don’t rely on that friend, family relative and children to care for you. If you want to make a million at age 60 on an average return of 15% per annum and you’re 25 years old, all you need to do is put aside GH₵89 a month. At age 30 the monthly investment doubles to about GH₵190 or GH₵189”.
Advising the working class, especially the youth to start investing towards their future quickly, he disclosed that every 5 years, the monthly investment amount doubles and the longer you wait, the more you have to invest.
The Databank Group CEO explained Ghanaians fall for Ponzi schemes often because, “We wake up in our 50s and realize we are facing retirement and because you have not made a plan and hear investment companies offering as much as 50% interest rates on investments, you rush and get duped”.
On his authority, any investor must thoroughly research into the various investment opportunities available to them and “know your risk tolerance level”, he advised.
By: Joel Sanco
